What type of gmo has been used for thousands of years?
What is the main drawback or downfall of using it?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Monday, 01/08/2018 18:43

Nearly all foods today have been genetically modified or altered in some way over thousands of years through selective breeding. However, there are only 10 commercially available GMO crops in the U.S: soybeans, corn (field and sweet), canola, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, summer squash, papaya, potatoes and apples.

 

Below is a table outlining what year the nine crops became commercially available:

 

Squash	1995
Cotton	1996
Soybean	1995
Corn	1996
Papaya	1997
Alfalfa	2006
Sugar beets	2006
Canola	1999
Potato	2016
Apple	2017

 

These 10 are the only GMO crops that are commercially available in the U.S., but it is also important to note that many of these crops are ingredients in other types of food you may find in your local grocery store.

 

The GM salmon was recently approved by the FDA and is the first GMO food animal to be approved and is commercially available only in Canada. The salmon was genetically modified for a few reasons including to conserve wild fish populations and provide low impact aquaculture. Read more about this first GMO animal, why and how it was created here.

 

The technology of genetic modification or genetic engineering was first developed in the early 1970s, commercialized in pharmaceutical applications in the early 1980s, and then agricultural applications in the early 1990s. You can read more about genetic modification for medical purposes in the article GMOs in Food and Medicine: An Overview  by Richard Green, Former Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Manager.

 

Read more about why GMOs were first created and for what purpose, here.

 

Robert Wager, M.Sc., faculty member of the Biology Department at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo BC Canada, discusses how successful GM crops have been since they arrived on the market 20 years ago, as well as explains the question of if there are any drawbacks to using GMOs in his response here. 

 

Kevin Folta, professor and chairman of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida, also discusses possible “risks or drawbacks” of GMOs in one of his responses.

 

“Transgenic, or GMO, technology also has similar risk, only the likelihood is lower, because we know the gene that is installed. We can follow it and know where it rests in the genome and whether it affects other genes. We can do tests to determine whether it has any effect on cellular processes or the production of new toxins or allergens, and to make sure they don't happen. These capabilities make the risk much lower than that of traditional breeding and have given us the safest food supply in human history.”

 

Read the full response here.

 

However, GMOs are considered an important tool in addressing many complex issues around the globe over the years. This response addresses some of the “pros” of GMOs for farmers, consumers and the environment. 

 

GMOs can benefit the environment in many ways. This response and this response, explain in great detail some of the environmental benefits.